Back in 2009, A-Lab won a competition against 40 other entries to design Statoil’s new offices. Located in a park-like setting in Fornebu, Bærum, Norway, the office is composed of five rectangular volumes stacked on top of each other. Parts of the volumes cantilever out over the grounds, but the building has a small overall footprint that maximizes the surrounding park space. Each volume is 3 stories high, approximately 140 meters long and 23 meters wide and the building was largely prefabricated off-site to reduce overall construction time. At the center of the stacked volumes is a large airy, light-filled room topped with a glass atrium that serves as the circulation center and meeting space.

The envelope is key to the building’s overall energy efficiency – it carefully balances energy loss against solar heat gain and daylighting. The long ends are clad in powder coated aluminum that acts as a rain screen, while the gable ends feature grey solar shading glass from the bottom to the top of the volume. Heat is provided via a remote centralized heat source, and 85% of that heat is then recycled. Overall the building achieves an energy class B rating and it has a calculated energy use of 103 kWh/m2. A-Lab’s Statoil office was recently the winner of the WAN 2012 Award for Best Office Building.